Arguments about the National Union list for the next Knesset
intensified on Monday, with Tekuma party members threatening to
establish the list independently if the factionís other MKs do not
agree to their proposal.

In a letter to National Union MKs Michael Ben-Ari and Arye Eldad,
party chairman Yaíacov Katz and MK Uri Ariel wrote that following
ongoing discussions on the factionís list for the 19th Knesset, they
have compiled a list of how the candidates of parties within the
National Union will be arranged. Katz and Ariel gave the other two
MKs a deadline of March 14, before they will see themselves as able
to ďconduct themselves independently.Ē

A Tekuma source explained that this does not mean his party intends
to split the faction up and run independently.

Rather, as the factionís chairman is from Tekuma, he will choose the
order of candidates without input from the National Unionís other
parties.

Eldad and Ben-Ariís offices, however, say that they did not receive
any letters, hinting that Katz and Ariel prefer to negotiate through
the media and not directly. In fact, a National Union source pointed
out that the two Tekuma MKs left the building immediately after the
ultimatum was publicized.

The two MKs would not comment on the letter, as they did not receive
it from Ariel and Katz.

The National Unionís list for the next Knesset will be comprised of
three parties: Tekuma, which includes Katz and Ariel; Hatikva, which
is led by Eldad; and Our Land of Israel, led by Ben-Ari.

The party plans to run in a joint list with Habayit Hayehudi in the
next Knesset, which will alternate between the two factionsí
candidates. However, an official agreement cannot be signed until the
National Union resolves its current disagreement.

The conflict in the National Union is about the order of its various
partiesí candidates within the list. In a possible eight-member list
for the next Knesset, Tekuma would have four candidates.